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Investments in Privately-held Companies | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2014
Investments in Privately-held Companies [Abstract] |
Investments in Privately-held Companies | Note 6. Investments in Privately-held Companies We have made strategic investments in private companies located in China in order to gain access to raw materials at a competitive cost that are critical to our substrate business. Our investments are summarized below (in thousands):
| Investment Balance as of |  |
Company | December 31, 2014 | December 31, 2013 | Accounting Method | Ownership Percentage
Beijing JiYa Semiconductor Material Co., Ltd | $ | 3,331 |  | $ | 3,331 |  | Consolidated | 46%
Nanjing Jin Mei Gallium Co., Ltd |  | 592 |  |  | 592 |  | Consolidated | 83%
Beijing BoYu Semiconductor Vessel Craftwork Technology Co., Ltd |  | 1,346 |  |  | 1,346 |  | Consolidated | 70%
| $ | 5,269 |  | $ | 5,269 |
Donghai County Dongfang High Purity Electronic Materials Co., Ltd. | $ | 1,723 |  | $ | 1,900 |  | Equity | 46%
Xilingol Tongli Germanium Co. Ltd |  | 5,351 |  |  | 4,692 |  | Equity | 25%
Emeishan Jia Mei High Purity Metals Co., Ltd |  | 1,021 |  |  | 945 |  | Equity | 25%
| $ | 8,095 |  | $ | 7,537 |  |  |
Our ownership of Beijing JiYa Semiconductor Material Co., Ltd. (JiYa) is 46%. We continue to consolidate JiYa as we have significant influence in management and have majority control of the board. Our Chief Executive Officer is chairman of the JiYa board and two other of our employees are also members of the board. Our ownership of Nanjing Jin Mei Gallium Co., Ltd. (Jin Mei) is 83%. We continue to consolidate Jin Mei as we have significant influence in management and have majority control of the board. Our Chief Executive Officer is chairman of the Jin Mei board and two other of our employees are also members of the board. Our ownership of Beijing BoYu Semiconductor Vessel Craftwork Technology Co., Ltd (BoYu) is 70%. We continue to consolidate BoYu as we have a significant influence in management and have majority control of the board. Our Chief Executive Officer is chairman of the BoYu board and two other of our employees are also members of the board. Although we have representation on the boards of directors of each of these companies, the daily operations of each of these companies are managed by local management and not by us. Decisions concerning their respective short term strategy and operations, any capacity expansion and annual capital expenditures, and decisions concerning sales of finished product, are made by local management with some inputs from us. During 2014, 2013 and 2012, the three consolidated joint ventures generated $3.0 million, $3.5 million and $7.4 million of income, respectively, of which $691,000, $1.1 million and $3.0 million, respectively was allocated to minority interests, resulting in $2.3 million, $2.4 million and $4.4 million, respectively to our net income. For the three equity investment entities that are not consolidated, the investment balances are included in “other assets” in our consolidated balance sheets and totaled $8.1 million and $7.5 million as of December 31, 2014 and 2013, respectively. We own 46% of the ownership interests in one of these companies and 25% in each of the other two companies. These three companies are not considered variable interest entities because:
| • | all three companies have sustainable businesses of their own;
| • | our voting power is proportionate to our ownership interests;
| • | we only recognize our respective share of the losses and/or residual returns generated by the companies if they occur; and
| • | we do not have controlling financial interest in, do not maintain operational or management control of, do not control the board of directors of, and are not required to provide additional investment or financial support to any of these companies.
These three equity investment entities generated for AXT equity earnings of $569,000, $270,000 and $379,000 for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013, and 2012, respectively, and was recorded as “equity in earnings of unconsolidated joint ventures” in the consolidated statements of operations. Net income recorded from all of the consolidated joint ventures and these equity investment entities was $2.9 million, $2.6 million and $4.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012, respectively. We also maintain minority investments indirectly in privately-held companies by our consolidated joint ventures. These minority investments are accounted for under the equity method in the books of our consolidated joint ventures. As of December 31, 2014 and 2013, our consolidated joint ventures included these minority investments in “other assets” in the consolidated balance sheets with a carrying value of $4.0 million and $3.4 million, respectively. All the minority investment entities that accounted for under the equity method had the following summarized operating information (in thousands) for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012, respectively.
| Years Ended December 31, | Our share for the Years Ended December 31,
| 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012
Net Revenue | $ | 47,824 |  | $ | 41,257 |  | $ | 32,858 |  | $ | 11,887 |  | $ | 10,240 |  | $ | 8,091 |
Gross profit |  | 21,436 |  |  | 13,836 |  |  | 11,057 |  |  | 5,340 |  |  | 3,328 |  |  | 2,643 |
Operating income |  | 9,046 |  |  | 8,174 |  |  | 6,310 |  |  | 2,059 |  |  | 1,820 |  |  | 1,409 |
Net income |  | 6,765 |  |  | 6,315 |  |  | 5,665 |  |  | 1,528 |  |  | 1,377 |  |  | 1,281 |
All the minority investment entities that accounted for under the equity method had the following summarized balance sheet information (in thousands) as of December 31, 2014 and 2013, respectively.
| As of December 31,
| 2014 | 2013
Current assets | $ | 31,482 |  | $ | 22,139 |
Noncurrent assets |  | 39,275 |  |  | 38,941 |
Current liabilities |  | 19,923 |  |  | 15,289 |
Noncurrent liabilities |  | 169 |  |  | 2,296 |
All the minority investment entities that are not consolidated and accounted for under the equity method generated for AXT equity earnings of $1.5 million, $1.4 million and $1.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012, respectively. Dividends received from these minority investment entities were $325,000, $396,000 and $277,000 for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012, respectively. Undistributed retained earnings relating to our investments in all these minority investment entities were $6.5 million and $5.3 million as of December 31, 2014 and 2013, respectively.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for equity method investments and joint ventures. Equity method investments are investments that give the investor the ability to exercise significant influence over the operating and financial policies of an investee. Joint ventures are entities owned and operated by a small group of businesses as a separate and specific business or project for the mutual benefit of the members of the group. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 210 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.12) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 323 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 3 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6382943&loc=d3e33918-111571 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 323 -SubTopic 10 -Section 35 -Paragraph 35 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=7658923&loc=d3e32847-111569 Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 323 -SubTopic 10 -Section 35 -Paragraph 32 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=7658923&loc=d3e32787-111569 + Details
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